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06 August 2016

Pack of the Day 137: Hobby Box of 2016 Panini Prizm NASCAR

Like I mentioned yesterday, I found a new (to me) card shop here in Dayton, Ohio, and while I was there I bought a box of 2016 Panini Prizm NASCAR. This is the first NASCAR product from Panini, and the first NASCAR product since Press Pass shut down. I think that was in January of 2015. So it's a pretty big deal if NASCAR trading cards are something you're into. Each box has 20 packs and 4 cards per pack, for a total of 80 cards in a box.

I got 54 base cards in my box, with no doubles. The checklist is 100 cards deep, so you're going to need multiple boxes if you're trying to complete a set. The set starts out with your fairly standard driver cards. The first 22-ish cards run in numerical sequence based on the driver's door number, but then I guess they ran out of door numbers and things get a little random. Drivers like Josh Wise don't have a stable number all year, so they don't even get their numbers on the card. The card backs are pretty bare-bones, with very basic height/weight/birthdate information and a paragraph about the driver.

After the driver cards is a subset showing the cars themselves. The backs of these cards feature a paragraph about a particular achievement that driver has accomplished, usually a victory, a pole, or a run of good finishes at a particular track.

Following that, there are several more subsets. One features Champions, the next has Driver Introductions, then there are a few Hall of Fame cards, and finally there is a card for the 2015 Chase for the Cup with the final Chase standings on the back.

The most numerous parallel is the basic rainbow-hued Prizm. I got ten of these in the box, although there are also Prizm parallels for all of the inserts that I am not counting in that number.

It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what these are. Apparently there is a short-print base variation set featuring eight drivers. I pulled a Rusty Wallace base version and a Mark Martin Prizm variation from this group. They are numbered as if they came from the base set, but they have a checkered flag background to differentiate them from the base cards whose numbers they share.

I pulled 5 inserts from three different insert sets. The first is Competitors, next is Qualifying Times, and last is Winner's Circle. I think Competitors is an insert for drivers who are popular to get a few more cards in the set. Qualifying Times talks about drivers who qualify first for a race, and Winner's Circle is a set that honors each race winner from 2015. There are a couple of other insert sets that I didn't pull any cards from, like Champions and Machinery, as well as retail-exclusive inserts for Wal-Mart and Target.

I pulled three basic Prizm parallels for insert sets. They are just like the Prizm parallels for the base cards.

There were three colorful serially-numbered Prizm parallels in my box. All come from the base set, although I believe most of the inserts have parallels. That Rusty Wallace is a Green Flag parallel numbered # 031 / 149, Denny Hamlin is a Blue Flag parallel numbered # 37 / 99, and Jamie Mcmurray is a Rainbow parallel numbered # 19 / 24. I guess it is just because of good branding, but I can't see a rainbow parallel without thinking of Jeff Gordon.

Each box doesn't guarantee three hits, but it does tell you to look for three hits, on average, per box. I got three in my box. Here they are in the order they were pulled. The Kyle Busch Firesuit Fabrics card is the only numbered parallel in the box. It is a Green Flag Prizm parallel, numbered # 56 / 99. The autograph is a Driver Signatures Prizm of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and the Race Used Tire relic card features Kurt Busch. I can't say I am blown away by these hits, but they are nice enough. I've seen better breaks out there, but I would imagine mine is about the average you might expect to see from this product.

I was happy to find some of this in a hobby shop, and overall I think it's about what you would come up with if someone asked you to describe a Panini Prizm NASCAR product. I would like to see more cards per box. The price would probably feel a lot better with 100 cards in the box as opposed to 80, even if you don't increase the hits per box and just add another 14 base cards and 6 inserts/parallels.

6 comments:

Glad to see your box breakdown. Interesting to me that you got two SPs and two Qualifying Times when I got none of them. Thanks for the plug, by the way. I would like to do another box someday but I will probably not, I do plan to grab some of the retail cards to chase the exclusive inserts though.

It is a pretty nice product. I still rank Prizm below Chrome in terms of quality, but I don't know if that is just brand snootery or due to an actual difference in design/cardstock. I feel like the colored Prizm parallels just aren't as nice-looking as Refractor parallels. It feels like a cheaper product. But you can't get Chrome NASCAR, so this will have to do, and it is a pretty nice product. I think they could have included more drivers in the checklist, but Panini is probably going the safe route at first by including the big names at the expense of lesser-known drivers.

About Me

The intention of my blogs is to focus on my hobbies, but they often wind up covering other things instead. My dormant blog, The Raz File, is centered on miniature wargames and painting. My other blog, The Raz Card Blog, is about trading cards and collectibles.